September is a month of many fantastic birthdays (including that of yours truly). One that has become more notable in recent days is that of best-selling author and world-class literary sadist (seriously, no one delights in my psychological anguish on behalf of his characters like this guy) George R. R. Martin.

Martin has, of course, been delighting audiences with A Song of Ice and Fire for years (the first book in the series, A Game of Thrones, was first published in 1996 and was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in July of 2011), but the airing of HBO's hit television series in April of last year caused a fairly meteoric rise in Martin's popularity.

I love Martin for his challenging but accessible prose, his incredibly well-imagined fantasy world, and for the complex political systems that he presents. I really appreciate what his best-selling works have contributed to the legitimacy of fantasy, which is a genre that tends to be sneered at in some circles.

Here at Kards Unlimited, we sell both A Song of Ice and Fire, the Game of Thrones graphic novel, and A Feast of Ice and Fire, a companion cookbook to the series, which features recipes for many of the foods mentioned in Martin's books. It's like Mastering the Art of French Cooking, except Westeros is better than France in literally every conceivable way.

Why not celebrate this man's awesome writing talent on his birthday, September 20th, by curling up with your favorite book from A Song of Ice and Fire and a home-cooked Westerosi meal? Now that I mention it, I think I will.

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